Judging Faith
by Mountain King
Summary: Cornered by a cyborg assassin while still in prison Faith is saved by the "Last Man Standing". Sent back to protect her the battle scared veteran would do anything to save her.


Judging Faith

Authors Note:-  
Once again this is one of my many ideas that could easily be a series, if I wanted it to be. The fact is I don't have the time to do anymore. Anyone you follows my work knows just how busy I am. Terminator Fanfics are also a pain in my neck, I've tried them several times to write them and each time they either snowball out of control or so tightly written that I feel like I'm hamstringing the characters.  
Also, those that have read my other stories might notice this is the second Faith in prison story I've posted in recent months, lets just say this particular plot bunny won't let go.  
So if you like this idea go right ahead and pinch it.

Disclaimer:-  
I own none of the characters used and I am only playing with them for my amusement.

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Since turning herself in Faith hadn't had that many visitors. A couple of state lawyers and Angel, that was about it. B had called for her one time, but she was fairly sure the other Slayer was more keeping an eye on her, rather than just checking up.

She was spending another fun filled day in the fantastic California Woman's Prison. Trying to keep clear of the crazies that didn't deserve to be there, or the kids that wanted to make a name for themselves, when one of the guards had found her. Someone had come and was asking for her.

At first Faith had thought it was another Lawyer. It might have been easier if she hadn't pled guilty. Every so often some bleeding heart or hotshot wanted to "Review her case." They had all sorts of ideas; temporary insanity, not enough evidence, even wrongful arrest. It turned out Angel's cop friend had been kicked out and most of the creeps she'd put away were trying it on.

She wasn't. Faith knew exactly why she was here and that she deserved every second of it. The last one had taken forever to drill that into and she wasn't looking forward to doing it again.

There were three other girls in the visitors room. Talking to their husbands, mothers and pimps respectively. In the two years or so she'd been stuck in prison Faith had pretty much everyone inside sussed. Sitting down Faith pretended not to notice the little nod her guard gave the one at the door.

A few seconds later he came in and Faith's comfortable little prison word was shattered. It wasn't human, one look was all she needed to know that. For one it was huge, something like seven foot tall with arms wider than her leg. Another was the way it walked. Straight and stiff, almost as if it only moved just enough muscles to put one foot in front of another.

It quickly scanned the room, eyes pausing on everyone else before turning to her. There was nothing behind them, no hate or fear. Just empty, as if whatever they belonged to wasn't really alive. With her Slayer senses screaming at her to fight and everything else telling her to run Faith was frozen in place.

It sat down on the other side of the glass, face absolutely blank. Then, as if suddenly remembering what to do, it picked up the handset. Again only just using enough muscles, precise, measured and restrained.

Faith looked around, for something, anything, to fight back with. There were about ten guards as well as the inmates and visitors, but something told her they weren't going to be able to stop whatever this was.

Trying to look calm and not freaked to hell and back she picked up her own handset. 'Hi, what do you want?' Faith asked, every nerve on fire.

It looked at her for a moment. "Faith Lehane?'

'Yep, that's me.' She admitted still looking for a way out and knew it was a mistake instantly. It dropped the handset and stood in one smooth move. If she wasn't a Slayer she'd never have moved fast enough, from his pants the giant drew what could only be called a hand cannon.

As Faith kicked her chair back her mind raced. At first she wondered just how bad security was in this place. As she rolled back she kept both eyes on the gun. It was amazing how she, Vampire Slayer and super strong ass-kicker, felt her blood chill at the site of a firearm.

It fired, the noise was so loud it almost deafened her, showering her chair with glass, the bullet catching the shocked guard. The round picked him up and off his feet, like they did in the movies.

As the guard fell everything snapped back to normal speed, with no weapons and no cover Faith was a dead duck. That didn't mean she couldn't go down fighting. Catching the rim of her chair with her toe she flipped it up and through the shattered glass. She'd hoped it would slow it down, distract it for a moment. Long enough to catch a break.

She didn't get that far. The light plastic just bounced off as it climbed through the glass. The gun not even wavering as it fired again, still Faith ran. The bullet hit where she had been a fraction before. She felt the next one pass through her hair before some sixth sense old her to dive. A third round clipped her shoulder.

Faith hissed in pain as it grazed her. There wasn't any blood, but there didn't need to be. The shock had knocked her off her game, not that she was playing to her best anyway. Problem was against this thing that wasn't good enough.

It was pure luck that she'd held it off long enough for the guards to react. Two of them drew their own guns while the rest tried to keep the visitors and other prisoners clear. They looked like cap guns compared to the thing her attacker carried.

Rolling out of the way Faith scrambled for an exit, any exit, but they were all blocked by panicking people or metal bars. She could have burst through one of the windows, but they were three stories up. A fall like that could do more than wind her, and it could still pick her off at range.

The guards fired. The pair of them emptying their guns into it's side. Faith could have told them it wouldn't do any good; a demon like that might use a gun but it would take more than that to stop it. She was right as almost absently it turned to them both and blew them away.

Then it faced her again and she knew what it was. One of the guards had hit it in the head. Faith had expected it to bleed blue bile or some other funky fluid, it didn't. The thing didn't even bleed, well not so much, and she could see a glint of something metal deep inside.

Silently cursing the Slayer flipped to her feet. This was it, someone had decided to get rid of her. Well she'd had her run, but that didn't mean she was going to give up without a fight. Kicking it square in the chest only staggered the machine, but it took everything she had to keep it up.

Getting up and under it's guard she caught it with a right cross that would have killed a man. Then another and even another, each one rocking the machines head but nothing more. Then there was a sudden commotion at the other door, the one the attacker came in.

Faith didn't have time to worry, as it had distracted her just long enough for the machine to throw her away and take aim again. Before it fired it was sent staggering as a shotgun blast caught it in the back.

Faith watched as a man that looked like hell pumped his sawn off weapon and fire again. He wasn't a guard and looked more like some hobo off the street; straggly beard, longish hair and dirty ill fitting clothes. Just to complete the image he also had a straggly eye patch and didn't lay off with the shotgun blasts until the gun was empty.

'I don't think that'll work!' she shouted to him.

'Not supposed to.' he called back. Pulling out a crude knife from the holster in the small of his back he flipped it around and threw it into the machines side. Faith looked at the knife buried halfway in it's ribs. There was something about it that looked off to her, the handle was far too big. Then the man pulled out another gun 'Get clear!' he cried out and fired. Hitting the dagger.

Faith had half a second to realise what that meant when her world became white and something hit her head.

Faith had no idea how long she was out, just that when she came too she was sitting in the passenger seat of a car. Being thrown into the door, it's handle digging into her ribs. She had wanted to cuss, but it just came out as a string of syllables.

'You've gotten soft Slayer, time was you could take a blast like that and walk right on out.'

Groaning Faith pulled herself from the handle. 'What's going on?' she asked as the driver swung the wheel around. Throwing her into his shoulder. She caught a glimpse of flashing blue lights behind as they sped off down a side street. 'I take it getaways aren't like the movies.'

'No they're not.' the guy muttered. 'Do something useful, there's a bag on the back seat. Pull out some sticks and throw them if they get too close.'

Faith glanced back, there was a bag with a seat belt on. 'Why's it got a seat belt?' she asked

'Niro.' He grunted, throwing the car into a bootleg turn and blasting down an intersection. 'It's nitro. I had some time to prepare before the triple eight got here.'

'Alright, I've asked before, but what the hell?' Faith hissed, trying not to think about the bag full of explosives rattling around behind her. 'Who, or what was that trying to blow me away? Who the hell are you, where are we going and just what is going on?' She shouted, only the insane amount of explosives between her and wrestling the wheel from him

'That was a T-triple eight, programmed for assassination. Skynet decided you were too dangerous to live, I was sent back to protect you.'

'That makes no sense!' Faith growled and then looked back at the road. 'ARE YOU FREAKING INSANE!' she bellowed as he swung around again, smashing through a padlocked gate and jumping into a river bed.

'Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.' she muttered as the car bounced along. Leaving road, the police and safety far behind.

'Get ready to jump.' he said opening his door

'Jump?'

'Jump!' He shouted, kicking her out before jumping himself. Not two seconds later the car blew. Faith was staring in shock at the burnt wreckage when the bearded guy pulled her to her feet. 'This is no time to get dainty Slayer. Come on.'

Be it shock, her concussion, or just basic confusion stunning her Faith followed. Mind spinning as she tried to make sense of it all. 'I woke up this morning thinking I'd spend the day lifting weights. I didn't think I'd end up fighting robots and breaking out of prison.'

'If it's any help we're clear.'

'No we're not. It would only take them like two minutes to figure out there wasn't anyone in there.'

'Yes there was. I stashed a pair of bodies in the trunk, with a couple of sticks of plasique. By the time they find enough to test we'll be half way to Sunnydale.'

Faith looked at his back, she was looking there for a moment before she realised what she was staring at. A bloody lump of car was stuck in his shoulder. 'You're wounded.'

'Not the first time. Come on.' He said, pushing a scrub bush to one side. Faith really had no idea what was going on. It was all happening so fast and Faith felt like she'd been swept up in some sort of madness.

By the time the sun was setting Faith actually thinking they might get away with it. 'So this Skynet, why do they want me dead enough to send a robot assassin?'

'Skynet's an it, not a they.' The man grunted, finally sitting down. 'It's a super-computer, built by the military. In about twenty years it gets snarked off and nukes the planet.'

'Huh?'

'The survivors scrub around in the wreckage, right up until when the metal came down.' he closed his eye and lay back. 'Skynet attacked again, this time with tanks. We did what we could. Fought back, every time we thought we'd won it would just pop up somewhere else. Eventually we found out why. Skynet had a time machine, when it realised that it couldn't win fair and square it changed the rules. Going back and killing it's enemies before the war started.'

Faith frowned, putting it together. 'So both you and this thing came back to either save or kill me. All because some time in the future I'm going to kick it's ass? That is crazy.'

She waited for him to say something, anything, but his slow breathing told her he was already asleep. She had no idea how, it had been half a day and she was still wired with adrenalin. He had to be just as wired and he also had a piece of metal buried in his shoulder.

Taking some deep breaths she tried to calm herself down. She needed real answers and she needed a clear head to understand them. As she watched her rescuer sleep Faith began to get a creeping feeling something was familiar about him. The eyepatch, more of a folded rag, did a good job of covering half his face. The beard and untamed hair did the rest.

Carefully she moved the patch to one side and gasped. It was bad, the eye was missing and only partly scared over. It looked like a gaping hole. Holding back a shudder she tried to take his face as a whole. Then she saw it, he was a hell of a lot older and the world had beat him down but it was him.

Xander, freaking, Harris. Just one look at his face and she knew he wasn't lying. It had been though so much and it had left a mark. 'Get a good look?' he whispered.

Jumping back with a startled oath Faith fell back onto her butt. Ignoring her embarrassment she just about croaked out; 'What happened to you?'

'Ten years.' His voice cracked. 'Judgement Day, the war, the time in-between. That's what happened. I'm the Last Man Standing, Faith. I've watched everyone I know die and you, even you Slayer, can't imagine what's coming.'

End

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Authors post script  
Wow that was fast wasn't it! Alright I meant for it to go a bit slower but I like the idea Faith's thrown from the relatively quiet prison into a life on the run from everyone.  
If anyone does want to pick this up review and I'll give you a quick break down of where I would take it if i had the chance (this is as much future Xander's story as Faith's, at least I think it could be)

Thomas  
AKA Mountain King


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